How to Survive The Most Critical 5 Seconds of Your Life

The author brings home the fact that "survival" is not a game, not a tit for tat trade of blows and escalation that one can take a chance on. He basically confirmed what I already knew but it will enlighten those who have not been around as long or followed the paths that I have. It's not about going looking for trouble but when trouble finds you and there is no possible way to avoid it there needs to be a personal understanding of what you have to do to survive. The author wants you to use your mind to avoid problems in every way possible. Avoidance may not be "in the cards that you have to play". Bad guys don't go by "Roberts Rules of Order" nor can you in order to survive. It's a mindset, you have to make mental preparation of the lengths that you are willing to go for your own or another's survival. What would happen if you were to pick up a squirrel in the park? You need to be that squirrel if the bad guy grabs you. The author de-emphasizes size and even physical conditioning and emphasizes use of your brain in survival situations. After I read the book I sent it to my nephew who also doesn't need particularly to read it but may pick up a few pointers. If you have been taught nonresistance to the SOB's who would assault or kill you please read the book, the cops won't get there in time. Cops get there in time to review the scene of the murder, solve the crime or not. Be the one left standing. . Trust the jury if it comes to that. Resolve to be mentally strong, think ahead, and you will be a survivor.

I highly recommend this book to young and old, male or female, (especially female). It is a page-turner, very clearly written by Tim Larkin and Chris Ranck-Buhr, each with 20 years experience in the subject of "nuetralizing" a person with a gun or knife pointed at you. ("Neutralize" is a very mild description).It will eliminate your phobia or fear at the sight of a gun or a knife pointed at you. After you read the book, and some time of practice, you will be calm and cool because you know the simple things you have to do. You will earnestly pray that you will never get into this kind of a situation because the outcome will be very bad for him and Not you. You will get to go home alive.Tim has been invited by influential people to visit places like Manila, Jakarta, Shanghai and other places where this kind of knowledge is very important. (I know because I have lived in some of those places and I understand what Tim is talking about.)In the recent Paris rampage, according to the CNN reporting, there was a time when the gunman stopped shooting because he had to reload his AK. Unfortunately there was no TFT men out there at that time. In the US, a report of an incident when the gunman, before shooting, asked first if you were a Christian. If he asked a TFT man that question, that would be his last words on earth). Than again, I repeat, we hope we will never be in such a situation. Read the book and sleep better.

My interest in personal safety and being able to protect myself and my loved ones drove me to obtain my CCDW. After successfully completing the approved courses I developed a deep need to understand the mechanisms and circumstances that could possibly lead to a life threatening situation.I quickly realized that possessing a deadly weapon could easily lead to a false sense of security if and when confronted with a violent encounter. I began researching as much information as I could consume regarding the violent criminal’s mindset.After reading numerous books and watching many videos I began to discover the need to rethink my objectives if I was ever to survive an evil violent event.When I discovered Tim Larkin’s perspective on the need to rewire ones brain on how it perceives a violent encounter it set off the “Bingo” alert in my mind.It drove home that possessing a deadly weapon alone could likely get you killed. A change of mindset is as important as your choice of carry weapon(s) or possibly even the most important one you could possess.After completing this book it became imperative that I follow on with Mr. Larkin’s “When Violence Is The Answer”!Mr. Larkin’s books and videos are a great inspiration to personally attend one of his courses.Highly recommended reading!

Reading the title of this book and seeing various commercials about the TFT program , I was interested and purchased the book.The book is not what I expected, rather than dealing with tactics to use to survive this is a detailed explanation of understanding violence , anti-social and asocial situations and how to deal with them. I felt that what was being said could be done in a lot less pages. There is practical advice on avoiding ego-based situations and emphasis on fighting to injure and incapacitate your opponent when fighting for your life. Basically this is a introduction to the Target Focus Training system which deals with the mindset required for it. The author takes a cheap shot at white kids from suburbia on pg. 78 regarding "attitude" which further detracts from this book. He states the obvious often with statement such as , "real violence is asocial, scary and deadly "(pg.138) and don't use ATM machines at night. His suggestion to treat every confrontation as having multiple attackers is good advice (pg.139). For 211 pages there should be demonstrations with pictures/diagrams of the strikes that would injure an attacker during the most critical 5 seconds of your life instead of an overly long discussion of violence with insults.

Enjoyed this a lot. Still wrestling with core concepts though. Could I snap to and inflict that sort of damage? Dunno. But this is definitely worth a read. I've trained a lot with knife and sticks and work in very dangerous places. I don't give a damn about self defence or fighting and have always been good at being aware and talking idiots down if I can't walk away safely. So I appreciated the attitude of the authors but feel it would take a certain level of maturity to evolve to that level they talk about. Others have said it's repetitive. I think it has to be to hammer the message home since its describing a frame of mind outside most people's understanding.

The main concepts of the book are definitely worth reading, but Larkin ends up repeating his point over and over until the end.

You only get one life. This book will make you think about the reality of it ending and what it means to defend oneself. I honestly haven't read a better book on the topic. You will be no Bruce Lee but then again you do not have to be.

Message makes lots of sense - in the end an advertisement for a TFT course. Says the same thing many many times. It definitely leaves you wanting to do a course.

I was blown away by how easy and effective this is. Both in the way you think about violence and how to win and survive a life threatening situation.